An Australian retailer has decided to see for itself exactly how long it takes for a basic latex balloon to biodegrade when left to its own devices in the elements.
There has been a marked increase in publicity surrounding the biodegradability of latex balloons over recent months, as both environmental campaigners and balloon industry best practise guidelines (such as those outlined by EBPC and BAPIA) address the issue of ‘balloon litter’.
However, there are a number of different claims as to how effectively latex balloons biodegrade in nature.
Australian retailer The Party’s Here is taking matters into its own hands by documenting the decomposition process of several latex balloons on its blog.
“As members of the Pro Environment Balloon Alliance (PEBA), concerned with the protection of the environment and how we can help, we have started conducting our own experiments to see for ourselves how latex balloons degrade, and how long this process takes,” the most recent update stated.
The experiment consists of inflating several latex balloons before letting them down and placing them on some soil in a plastic container and leaving it outdoors. Here’s what was reported after one month.
“Balloon colours have started to fade, particularly the Pearl Pink and Pearl Lime Green. The Ruby Red appears to be the worst effected, with small holes forming and a brittle appearance. The Diamond Clear is also starting to degrade quite quickly, and has melted in on itself and become discoloured.”
“The wind has moved the balloons around in the box, so some of them are now on top of each other and overlapping. The heat from the Sydney summer has also caused some of them to melt / mould together. We have chosen not to disrupt them and haven’t pulled them apart.”
The Party’s Here is encouraging others to conduct their own experiments so they can collate as much data from as many different enviroments as possible.
